Alstom innovating to improve and expand its onshore wind turbines

Alstom signs a partnership with Freyssinet to enhance its ability to provide higher towers to serve less windy sites. The Group also achieves a key milestone in the certification of its ECO 122 wind turbine and commercialises a 3.0MW model of the machine.
Following measurements taken over a 2-month period on an initial ECO122 unit installed in Wieringermeer, Netherlands, the power curve of the wind turbine was measured and certified by ECN¹, providing tangible evidence of the machine’s efficiency.

Alstom also announced that it has signed a global partnership with Freyssinet²  to develop a 119-metre concrete tower specifically designed for its ECO122 wind turbine. This new tower will be made of 11 concrete sections, the lowest measuring 7.20 metres in diameter, for the base of the structure.

Coupled with the MOU agreement previously signed with Max Bögl Wind AG³, to develop a 139-metre tower of hybrid design featuring a concrete bottom section and a steel top section, this new partnership gives Alstom the ability to offer its customers two high tower options for its ECO 122, suited to harness the stronger winds found at high altitude.

The ECO122 is now available in 3.0MW model which will have a 6% higher yield than the 2.7MW version. The high capacity factor⁴ combined with the turbine’s significant rated power make the turbine ideally suited for low to medium winds.

“By consistently investing in innovative wind turbines, we strive to ensure a better use of wind resources and a higher yield, regardless of wind characteristics. The new steps achieved today will help us to continue to provide our customers with more flexible and ever more efficient solutions” stated Laurent Carme, Alstom’s Vice President Platform & Product Wind Onshore.

Thanks to the installation of a temporary structure and a mobile factory close to the wind farm, each element of the concrete tower will be produced and assembled, by Freyssinet, on site or nearby prior to full installation of the turbine, allowing increased local content, and reduced transport costs. Freyssinet has developed a unique installation method “Eolift” based on proven heavy lifting techniques used in civil engineering. The method facilitates the nacelle and tower assembly at heights exceeding 120 metres, while reducing contingencies relating to stringent conditions, such as high wind conditions during installation.

By providing a comprehensive range of towers made of concrete, steel or both, and adding to that the latest in installation technology, it is now possible to consider installing a wind farm within more complex environments, at competitive costs and within competitive completion times.

¹ Energy research Center of Netherlands
² Member of Soletanche Freyssinet Group, world leader in specialized civil engineering
³ Germany’s leader in the design and construction of wind turbine installations
⁴ Capacity factor is the ratio of the actual energy produced in a year, to the theoretical maximum possible if the turbine is running full time at full power output.